Russian hackers gained access to correspondence between US authorities and Microsoft

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) reported that Russian hackers gained access to correspondence between Microsoft and a number of US federal agencies.

In the document, published On the organization’s website, the agency directed federal government agencies to “immediately mitigate the significant risk associated with the Russian state-sponsored cyber threat.” We are talking about the January cyber attack by the hacker group Midnight Blizzard, which is associated with Russia. As a result of the attack, hackers managed to compromise Microsoft email accounts.

CISA warned that hackers used account login details sent by mail to try to get into the systems of Microsoft customers, including an unspecified number of government agencies.

The agency did not name specific departments whose letters were obtained by the hackers, but noted that they received a targeted warning.

“We demand immediate action to reduce risks to our federal systems,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly. “For several years, the US government has documented malicious cyber activities carried out by the Russian government. Now Microsoft is adding to this long list. We will continue our efforts, in collaboration with our federal government and private sector partners, to protect our systems from this threat.”

Hacker attacks against government agencies in the United States and Europe have recently become more frequent. The largest such attack in recent months was the leak of a conversation between German Bundeswehr officers discussing a potential Taurus cruise missile attack on the Crimean Bridge. Russia denies involvement in hacker attacks.

• In April, Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka said Russia had made “thousands of attempts” to damage Europe’s railway infrastructure in the two years since its large-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the minister, we are talking primarily about hacker attacks. They target the signaling and computer systems of railway operators, in particular the Czech state railway company.